Unit Test Reviewer

The Spider

by Robert P. Tristram Coffin

With six small diamonds for his eyes

He walks upon the summer skies,

Drawing from his silken blouse

The lacework of his dwelling house.

He lays his staircase as he goes

Under his eight thoughtful toes

And grows with the concentric flower

Of his shadowless, thin bower.

His back legs are a pair of hands,

They can spindle out the strands

Of a thread that is so small

It stops the sunlight not at all.

He spins himself to threads of dew

Which will harden soon into

Lines that cut like slender knives

Across the insects’ airy lives.

He makes no motion but is right,

He spreads out his appetite

Into a network, twist on twist,

This little ancient scientist.

He does not know he is unkind,

He has a jewel for a mind

And logic deadly as dry bone,

This small son of Euclid’s own.

What does the speaker mean when he says that the spider "walks upon the summer skies"?

• Spiders are usually found in very high places.

• Spiders' webs are soft and white, like clouds in the sky.

• Spiders like to spin their webs in summer, when the weather is warm.

• Spiders' webs are so thin that the spider appears to be walking on air.

What figurative language is used in these lines?

His back legs are a pair of hands.

They can spindle out the strands.

• Metaphor

• Alliteration

• Oxymoron

• Simile

The Spider

by Robert P. Tristram Coffin

With six small diamonds for his eyes

He walks upon the summer skies,

Drawing from his silken blouse

The lacework of his dwelling house.

He lays his staircase as he goes

Under his eight thoughtful toes

And grows with the concentric flower

Of his shadowless, thin bower.

His back legs are a pair of hands,

They can spindle out the strands

Of a thread that is so small

It stops the sunlight not at all.

He spins himself to threads of dew

Which will harden soon into

Lines that cut like slender knives

Across the insects’ airy lives.

He makes no motion but is right,

He spreads out his appetite

Into a network, twist on twist,

This little ancient scientist.

He does not know he is unkind,

He has a jewel for a mind

And logic deadly as dry bone,

This small son of Euclid’s own.

The poem is written from which point of view?

• First point of view

• Second point of view

• Third person point of view

The Spider

by Robert P. Tristram Coffin

With six small diamonds for his eyes

He walks upon the summer skies,

Drawing from his silken blouse

The lacework of his dwelling house.

He lays his staircase as he goes

Under his eight thoughtful toes

And grows with the concentric flower

Of his shadowless, thin bower.

His back legs are a pair of hands,

They can spindle out the strands

Of a thread that is so small

It stops the sunlight not at all.

He spins himself to threads of dew

Which will harden soon into

Lines that cut like slender knives

Across the insects’ airy lives.

He makes no motion but is right,

He spreads out his appetite

Into a network, twist on twist,

This little ancient scientist.

He does not know he is unkind,

He has a jewel for a mind

And logic deadly as dry bone,

This small son of Euclid’s own.

By referring to the spider as a "little ancient scientist," what does the speaker show?

• Spiders generally live a very long time.

• Spiders tend to be curious creatures.

• Spiders are highly intelligent creatures.

• Spiders perform very complicated tasks.

The Spider

by Robert P. Tristram Coffin

With six small diamonds for his eyes

He walks upon the summer skies,

Drawing from his silken blouse

The lacework of his dwelling house.

He lays his staircase as he goes

Under his eight thoughtful toes

And grows with the concentric flower

Of his shadowless, thin bower.

His back legs are a pair of hands,

They can spindle out the strands

Of a thread that is so small

It stops the sunlight not at all.

He spins himself to threads of dew

Which will harden soon into

Lines that cut like slender knives

Across the insects’ airy lives.

He makes no motion but is right,

He spreads out his appetite

Into a network, twist on twist,

This little ancient scientist.

He does not know he is unkind,

He has a jewel for a mind

And logic deadly as dry bone,

This small son of Euclid’s own.

Which statement BEST describes the imagery in these two lines?

Lines that cut like slender knives

Across the insects' airy lives

• The spider's web appears to cut the air into smaller pieces.

• The threads of the spider's web mean death for flying insects.

• The sections of a spider's web sometimes look like the blades of knives.

• The strands of the spirder's web look like cut marks or scratches in the air.

IDENTIFY THE GERUND(S) 
Jessica really enjoys bothering the neighbors with loud music.

• Jessica
• bothering
• loud
• music

Tags

CCSS.L.8.1A

IDENTIFY THE GERUND(S) 
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

• giving
• taking
• giving and taking
• none of the above

Tags

CCSS.L.8.1A

A gerund is a form of a verb that acts as a _____.

• adjective

• adverb

• verb

• noun

Tags

CCSS.L.8.1A

Identify the function of the gerund.

Reading is an important skill.

• Subject

• Direct Object

• Predicate Nominative

• Object of Preposition

Tags

CCSS.L.8.1A

What is the rhyme scheme of the stanza below?

The sun is shining bright

This is a lovely sight.

You are like a day of May

And I as worthless as hay.

• AAAA

• AABB

• ABCB